


Dead Bite

by JustYouBenSolo



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Alternate Universe - Zombie Apocalypse, Death, F/M, Gingerrose - Freeform, HEA, Happy Halloween, Idiots in Love, Kissing, Minor Zorii Bliss/Poe Dameron, Mutual Pining, Neck Kissing, Rey & Rose Tico Friendship, Rey And Ben Are NOT Going To Die, Reylo - Freeform, Shower Sex, Smut, Spooktober, bazine is a bitch
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-10-05
Updated: 2020-12-09
Packaged: 2021-03-06 19:27:33
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,674
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26364169
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/JustYouBenSolo/pseuds/JustYouBenSolo
Summary: A deadly virus has infected half the American population, bringing the dead back to life. One bite and you are a goner, doomed to viciously attack and kill everyone in your path. Since the breakout of the virus, the government has worked on secluding five states where the virus hasn’t reached yet, so-called ‘safe zones’ where people can travel to safety if they can make it: Washington, Montana, North Dakota, New York, and Pennsylvania.Rey Niima travels along with her friends in hopes of reaching one of the safe spots but it’s a long journey with danger hidden around every corner. A lot can happen in a day. And when the ammunition for the guns run out, you better make a run for it.The author is taking a break from writing Reylo. Yes, I will be updating the fic in the future. It's not abandoned
Relationships: Kylo Ren/Rey, Rey/Ben Solo, Rey/Ben Solo | Kylo Ren
Comments: 19
Kudos: 39
Collections: Ghost in the Attic





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> A little zombie apocalypse fic in honor of my favorite time of the year. Happy Halloween! 🎃🧟♂️🧟♀️
> 
> Many thank you's to my amazing beta LadyofReylo!

Ben glances at Rey for the millionth time today. She glances back. It’s innocent, brief, unspoken words of two people wanting to be together but is too afraid of getting too emotionally attached in case the other one dies. Everyone sees it but Rose is the only one who comments on it, only wanting her best friend to be happy while they still can.

“It’s the end of the world and you two still can’t say ‘I love you’ to each other. What if one of you gets bitten? Then it will be too late and you will never get to say how you felt… and that’s sad.”

Rose speaks in a hushed voice for only Rey to hear. They are both in the kitchen, searching through the cabinets and crooked floorboards to check for food, canned food if they are lucky. It lasts longer.

Rey sighs. “Rose, we have talked about this. I can’t think about boys when I could die at every moment. If we don’t get bitten first, we might die of starvation.” She crouches down to sit on her knees and look through the cabinets at the bottom.

“Don’t you want to get laid one last time?”

Rey bumps her head, not expecting her best friend to say something like that. “Rose!” she hisses, lifting a hand to the sore spot on her head.

“I’m just saying Armitage and I aren’t wasting time. We are going at it every chance we get,” Rose shrugs.

“Yes, thank you. I know that. I have walked in on you two too many times when my watch had ended.”

Rey casts a glance at Ben who is already staring at her. She blushes and looks away. “I highly doubt Ben is interested in me anyway. All he cares about is staying alive, like me.”

Rose grabs a crowbar and inserts it under a crooked floorboard to open it. “The world is already ending. Just talk to him. What is the worst that can happen?”

He could die and Rey will be left mourning him until the end of time.

• • •

It’s past eleven when Armitage comes back from his turn on staying on the watch. He nods to Dopheld who stands up from his seat on the floor in the living room and walks outside to keep an eye on any infected people—or rather _zombies_. They all take turns to keep watch while the rest of the group either sleep, rests, or searches for food.

Bazine sits in the corner of a window, looking down on the deserted grown outside the abandoned apartment which they all broke into. She has her resting bitch face on while she shoots Rey a dirty look every now and then.

Rey doesn’t give her the time of the day. Their lives are at stake and she’s not going to waste precious time on her to fight over a boy. Stay alive and reach the state of Pennsylvania is the only priority she can cope with right now.

The virus broke out five months ago in Florida. The south is a warzone with no survivors. It’s a death wish to travel to the southern states and look for survivors. If some people managed to keep hidden and stay alive, they won’t be for too long and it’s not worth the risk of getting bitten to try and save them.

The infected show violent behavior and have a tendency to cannibalism. A simple bite or a scratch from an infected person is enough to transport the virus into your body. They all travel in flocks and one is rarely alone.

People didn’t know the dangers of the virus to begin with. It spread like wildfire. Reporters and the media caught on to the news too late to send out a warning. Cities were infiltered by zombies within days. The remaining scientists that survived are working on an antidote to save the infected and a vaccine for the bite but so far, there is no luck.

It took some time before the virus reached Tennessee, their home state. Rey has been on the run for four months now. At least she got to finish college before the world ended.

The government acted too late to help people and decided instead to get the five states, where the virus hadn’t reached yet, under lockdown from the rest of the country. No one got in or out. Two months ago, the government sent out a message for survivors to let them know they are reopening the states and urges the living to try to reach them, referring to the five states as ‘safe zones.’

The safe zones: Washington, Montana, North Dakota, and New York are too far away but they might be able to reach Pennsylvania alive.

It’s dark outside. It was dark when they found shelter for the night too.

They all raked the empty apartment for valuables when they broke in but without much luck. What food is left was molded but at least there is a bathroom to shower in, clean water to drink, and fresh clothes to wear but it’s only temporary. In the morning, they will leave again.

Ben sits with Finn on a couch at the far end of the living room. They both fiddle with their own AR-15 rifle while counting the ammunition left.

Armitage has placed his shotgun in front of him on top of a dinner table. His feet are propped up on the same table while he rests on a chair, eyes closed.

Rey checks the battery on her walkie talkie. It still works but she’s soon going to be in need of new batteries. The food they have is starting to dwindle too. Ammunition is generously being spared and the guns are only used if necessary. The loud bang from the guns draw too much attention and lure the zombies in their direction.

Tomorrow they will look for a store to get what they need. It should not take more than a few weeks to reach Pennsylvania. So far, they managed to get into Indiana and are only an hour away from Ohio but it wasn’t without losses too.

Their little group of seven people used to be over twenty. Phasma is the latest to go. She is the reason the group has survived for this long.

Armitage is the one to break the silence in the room. He stands from the chair and stretches his body. “I’m heading to bed. Anyone want to join?”

Rose stands up as well. “Good idea. We all need as much rest as we can get.”

“There are only four beds. How are we all supposed to sleep?” Bazine wails from the window. “We might need to share. Ben and I can—”

Rey widens her eyes by what Bazine is about to suggest. She opens her mouth to protest but Rose grabs her hand to say ‘don’t’.

“It’s fine. Finn and I can take the couch while you take the beds.” Ben doesn’t look at Bazine as he speaks.

Bazine huffs and jumps down from the window. She heads for the bedroom without uttering another word. Rose rolls her eyes and follows after her with Armitage right behind her.

Rey hesitates. She stares longingly after Ben. Rose’s words echo in her mind. _Just talk to him_. Easier said than done. What should she even say? ‘I’m in love with you but I’m too afraid to act on it because if you die, I don’t know how to continue to live.’

Finn catches her staring and Rey feels her cheeks heat up with warmth. Flushed, she heads for the bedroom to get some sleep before she has to switch with Dopheld and take the next watch.

• • •

Rey rubs her tired eyes, burning from the lack of sleep. She forces her worn-out body up into a sitting position. It’s not a time to be selfish. Dopheld hasn’t even slept yet. He deserves to rest too.

Grabbing her belt, she straps it to her pants. It has everything she needs for protection. Ammunition, a handgun, and a walkie talkie for communication. They all have one in case something happens.

She puts on her boots and jacket before she walks out of the bedroom. Reaching the living room, she tiptoes past Ben and Finn who are sound asleep. Rey lingers for a second, not knowing if this is the last time she will see the man she loves.

Forcing herself to move on, she makes it to the entrance of the apartment and unlocks the door. It’s a cold October night. Clouds of smoke leave her mouth as she breathes. She hugs her jacket closer to her body, shivering.

A sudden stench of rot and decay makes her stop in her tracks. The smell of death can’t be mistaken and Rey has come across it too many times before. Her heartbeat speeds up in her chest as she carefully sneaks a peek around the corner, hand hovering over her handgun, ready to grab it and shoot.

Three infected people are meaninglessly walking back and forth, covered in fresh blood, and not just anyone’s blood. Dopheld lies on the cold ground with his eyes white open—emotionless— _dead_.

Rey has to cover her mouth with her hands to smother a scream. There is nothing she can do for him now. It will only be a matter of time before the virus kicks in and he is a zombie, ready to attack any living thing in sight. She just wishes they didn’t have to lose him too.

Rey slowly walks backward inside while quietly shutting and locking the door. Where there is one, there are many and there are three just outside the apartment. They have to move on _now_ before more arrives. Rey has to wake the others up.

She reaches the living room but her words get caught in her throat. Tears gather in her eyes and run down her cheeks. Too many people she knew have died so far. She doesn’t know how long she can keep this up. Survivor’s guilt follows her around like a dark cloud. It haunts her more at night. Dopheld was her friend. He was a good guy. He didn’t deserve it. No one does.

“Rey?”

Ben speaks softly in the dark, using his arms to sit half upright.

“We—we have to go. Dopheld… he is dead.”


	2. Chapter 2

The glass shatters and scatters all over the pavement on the ground. Armitage manages to reach a hand inside the car they just found and unlocks the door. He sits in the front seat and starts fiddling with various wires. Bazine, Rey, Ben, Rose, and Finn all keep an eye for infected people, weapon in hand, loaded and ready to shoot.

The car starts and no one wastes any time in getting in.

“I call shotgun!” Bazine says, running in front of Rose and rudely pushes her out of her way. Rose bites her tongue and quickly gets in the backseat after Rey.

“We will get much faster to Pennsylvania this way. Good job finding us a car, Ben,” Armitage says as he slowly drives through the desolated city.

“Yeah, that is if we don’t lose the car in Ohio. _If_ we even make it to Ohio in the first place.” Finn sighs.

“Don’t say things like that. Of course, we will make it to Ohio _and_ Pennsylvania.” Rose gives Finn an irritated look. Why does he always have to be so pessimistic?

“Dopheld won’t.”

Everyone gets quiet because of Finn’s comment. It was a low blow. No one has said it out loud but it’s a silent rule everyone has agreed to not mention the dead. It’s too painful. Finn crossed a line.

“Dopheld was a loser,” Bazine snorts from the front seat. “He was annoying just like Phasma, always bossing us around.” She rolls her eyes.

“Don’t say that!” Rey pipes up, feeling her blood starting to boil. “Dopheld was a good friend and Phasma saved our lives! You wouldn’t be here if it wasn’t for her and you know it!

Phasma gave her life for the group. They were all cornered by a herd of the undead but Phasma somehow managed to get their attention and made the infected people chase after her. It bought them enough time to get away. They heard her screams in the distance. Rey will be forever be indebted to a heroic woman who saved her life that she can never pay back.

“Oh, yeah? If she is such a holy person, why didn’t you sacrifice yourself to save her? Then you would have been gone and she would still have been here!”

“Bazine fucking shut up,” Armitage groans.

“Oh, fuck you!” she snaps.

“Calm down. If you get any louder, you might—” Ben tries but Bazine interrupts him.

“I might what? I will be loud if I fucking want to!”

A familiar wheezing sound makes them all freeze. Armitage slowly stops the car at once to not draw too much attention. Five infected people emerge from a corner around a building. Nobody moves a muscle as the dead look their way, staring the car down. Their bodies twist and turn in inhuman ways with mouths foaming and their eyes wide open.

They look with interested eyes for a while, examine the car but still keep their distance. Eventually, they grow tired and turn to leave, not finding it interesting. And that is when Bazine decides to open her big mouth.

“See! Nothing happened! Stop being so fucking—”

The infected people instantly snap their heads in the direction of the car and sprint toward them.

“Why won’t you ever do as you’re told?!” Armitage curses under his breath as he fumbles with the ignition to turn the car back on again. It won’t start. He tries again with no luck.

“Armitage, please drive away!” Rose says dreadfully, eyeing the dead who gets closer.

“I’m trying!”

“Armitage, now!”

“Drive!”

They all start screaming at each other, caught up in the chaos of the situation. Ben acts quickly. He rolls the window down and points his AR-15 rifle, shooting two in the head. Rey does the same, crawling over Rose and points her handgun out of the window, and manages to shoot one.

Armitage finally succeeds to turn on the ignition, starting the car and they speed away just in time as the two infected people catch up to them. One bangs on the side of Bazine’s window and she lets out an ear-piercing scream.

“I’m sorry! I’m sorry! I’m sorry! I’m sorry!” Bazine continues wailing as they all speed away.

Armitage looks in the rearview mirror to see a dozen infected people appearing from their hiding places in all the various buildings. It was a close call. It’s not a guarantee they will be so lucky next time.

• • •

“I already told you, I’m sorry! What more do you want?” Bazine growls as they step out of the car.

Armitage turns to Bazine. “We want you to shut up for once!” he yells, beyond fed up with her attitude. She huffs and crosses her arms like an immature child not getting her way but at least she shuts up for now.

They all turn to face the empty tank station. All the windows are shattered and the door is ripped off its hinges. Armitage stays outside to tank up and keep an eye out while the rest of the group goes inside, shoes crunching when they step over broken glass.

The store is a mess. Shelves are knocked over one another and liquid from shattered glass bottles and crushed beer cans drip onto the floor. Blood is smeared all over the place from the white dirty walls to the floor and the cash register in the corner. Rey can’t tell if it’s fresh or old. Maybe both.

Finn stands in the aisle of what used to be alcohol. He picks up shelves and picks through the pile of wood and booze, taking the glass bottles that are still intact. Grinning, he gathers as much as he can bear in his arms.

“Jackpot!”

Rey shakes her head in disapproval. They finally find a place with all they need to survive and he chooses to go straight for the alcohol—poison. Finn will never change. He must really miss wild parties and getting drunk.

At least Bazine is of more use. She has grabbed a shopping cart with Rose and they half run around the store, inspecting all the food and shoveling it into the cart, taking as much as possible. They have already gathered a mountain of water bottles. Good. Not every place they come across has water.

Rey’s stomach growls from hunger. They are all hungry but with all this food, they don’t have to go hungry for a while. If they are lucky, it’s enough to last for their trip to Pennsylvania. No more stops, wasting time on looking for food or places with running water.

Rey heads straight for the aisle with ammunition. She lets her eyes wander until she finds the ammunition for her and Rose’s handguns, grabbing what is left. Ben is there as well, snatching all the ammunition for his and Finn’s AR-15 rifle and Armitage’s shotgun.

Rey and Ben’s eyes meet.

“Hey.” He gives her a shy smile.

“Hi.” She says slowly, feeling butterflies erupt in her stomach. All she wants to do is blurt out ‘I love you’ but nothing comes out of her mouth.

“Do you think we have enough ammunition?” she asks instead.

Ben furrows his eyebrows, thinking. “It’s hard to tell. I think we might need to restock again in a week.”

He is not wrong. The ammunition quickly runs out even though they spare when they can. Rey is about to answer when she watches Armitage walk into the store, hands in the air. An unfamiliar man has a gun raised to Armitage's head.

Rey takes a good look at him. Curly dark hair, square jaw, and soft eyes. He’s accompanied by two white girls and one black girl. More survivors.

“Ben.”

Rey nods her head to what’s going on behind him and he turns around to face the intruders—more survivors like them. Everybody stops what they are doing and stares at the newcomers.

“Are any of you bitten? Scratched?” The curly-haired man flickers his eyes over everyone. Bazine and Rose cower behind the shopping cart. Ben protectively steps in front of Rey. Things can instantly turn ugly when humans turn on each other. He should be pointing his gun at the infected people, not the living.

“No.” Finn raises a vodka bottle, pointing it at the newcomers. “How do we know none of you are bitten or scratched?” He squints his eyes.

“We aren’t.” The curly-haired man lowers his handgun to his side. “I’m Poe.” He gestures to each of the three women behind him. “This is Kaydel, Zorii, and Jannah.”

Finn huffs. He doesn’t like this Poe guy very much.

Despite protests from Finn and Bazine, the rest of the group decides to team up with their acquaintances. Safety in numbers. A truck is parked beside the car Ben found.

Poe whistles to himself as he tanks up the truck. Zorii cuddles into his side, nibbling on his neck, and whispers into his ear. Jannah watches them with a bored look on her face, rolling her eyes. Kaydel keeps glancing back and forth, watching for unusual movement. Her hands are formed in fists by her sides, shaking from anxiety.

Rose and Bazine roll the shopping cart to their car and unload all the food and water to the luggage room. Finn puts all the alcohol in the luggage room as well, earning a glare from Rey. There’s a chance he could get killed and endanger all of them if he decides to get drunk.

Armitage gets into the driver seat, getting ready to drive. They are thirty minutes away from reaching Ohio. All is almost packed and ready. Rose hurries to sit in the front seat beside Armitage before Bazine has a chance to push her aside again.

Rey feels uneasy. Something in her guts feels wrong.

She strides out of the store for the second time with Ben in tow, putting the last ammunition in the car. She is about to join Bazine and Ben in the passenger seat when a stench catches her nose. She gags. It reeks of death.

A snarling in the distance makes her head turn. As a reflex, she grabs the handgun and points it to the corner of the store. A zombie appears from behind the tank station and Rey acts quick, shooting it in its head.

Poe and Zorii are still canoodling even though the tank is full and they are ready to go but their heads turn by the sound of a gun going off. More zombies appear from around the corner and they only seem to multiply by the second.

“Shoot!” Poe races to get into the passenger seat of the truck with Jannah and Zorii right behind him.

Kaydel is in hysterics as she runs for the truck. A zombie catches up to her and she sobs and screams as the infected person hisses. Kaydel trips and lands on the ground, crawling away when she is too stunned to get up. She wails her arms around in a pathetic attempt to push the zombie away. It scratches her arm and she screams, clutching her hand over the wound. Rey shoots the zombie in the head, letting it drop dead.

She helps Kaydel to her feet, too caught up in surviving to notice her arm is bleeding. Kaydel is safely in the truck in no time as Rey heads for her car.

“Go! Go! Go!” Rey ushers to Armitage, jumping into the passenger seat, joining Ben, Finn, and Bazine, shutting the car door. The car speeds down the road with the truck following right behind them.


End file.
